


Like a Mask

by Brynrei



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Punk!Lexa, minor side pairings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-06
Updated: 2015-03-09
Packaged: 2018-03-16 15:20:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3493274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brynrei/pseuds/Brynrei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke Griffin was a smart and resourceful student at Ark High. She had great friends, good grades, and... a slight problem with one of the girls at the school. More specifically, she was disliked by the leader of the punks and she didn't know why, but she wanted to find out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Why does she hate me?”

Clarke hated the sound of desperation in her voice. Her friend Jasper just shrugged at her, taking a long sip of his drink. He didn't look at her, instead opting to scan the small coffee shop. When his gaze finally fell back on the blonde and he put his cup down, he spoke: “Why don’t you just let it go? Isn't it like a signature ‘goth chick’ thing to hate everyone, especially the smart kids?”

“You’re one to talk,” Clarke fired back. “It’s so obvious that you have the biggest crush on Octavia, and she’s one of their gang.” She shifted against the back of the booth seat, sinking into it. "Besides, I'm pretty sure they're punk, not goth. Goth is more black."

“Look, Clarke,” Jasper ran a hand through his messy dark hair and pushed it out of his face only to have it spring back into the same position. “I've accepted the fact that she’s got a thing for that other Lincoln guy, and I’m giving her space. I can still see from a distance, though, if you know what I mean.”

The blond girl snorted at him and reached across the table to give his shoulder a push. “You still have hope she might like you.”

Jasper raised his hands in defense, “I’m not gonna deny that. I _did_ save her from failing a chemistry test, after all.”

Clarke shook her head. “You _just_ said, five minutes ago, that they hate smart kids.”

“But I’m a different kind of smart. I mean, I’m book smart, but I use that knowledge to make candy, not get into college.”

“Wow, we've got a bad boy over here; someone call the cops.”

Jasper smirked. “They already tried.”

“Yeah, I know," Clarke grinned back. "But Monty got you out of that one, so get off your high horse.”

His face fell again and he looked slightly annoyed at Clarke. He propped his elbows up on the table and looked at the blonde curiously, as if he was about to shift the topic. He drummed his fingers on the table. “You didn't tell me why you cared.”

Clarke raised her eyebrows, leaning forward as well. “Cared about _what?”_

“About why Goth Princess hates you. Or Punk Princess, whatever. Anyway, you know why I’m all about Octavia, but you didn't tell me why you’re caught up with… what’s her name?”

“Lexa.” Clarke pursed her lips, seeing where this was going.

“Right. Leader of the punks, how could I forget?” he muttered sarcastically. “She hates me, too. Why do you care?”

“I think she only hates you because you’re trying to get close to Octavia.”

Jasper shook his head and held up a finger. “Negative. I believe ‘tried’ is the word you’re looking for. Past tense. We've established this.” He smiled at Clarke and she rolled her eyes. Before she could retort, he continued, “You didn't answer me. Why do you care?”

“I don’t know,” she told him, and it at least felt like the truth. Something in her stomach flipped at the thought of the other girl and she willed it to calm down.

Jasper leaned further towards her with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Could it be that the infamous Clarke Griffin has a thing for someone other than Finn?”

“I’m not with Finn, nor do I like him anymore,” Clarke said, glaring daggers at her friend. “Say that again and I’ll slap you.”

Jasper just looked smug, not easing down. “That wasn't a ‘no.’”

“You’re right,” she said, clearly exasperated, “it wasn't, because I don’t have time for this.” The blonde stood up to leave, but the jingling of the coffee shop door interrupted her. Both teenagers glanced at it, only to see a group of girls walk in.

There were three of them, all dressed in mostly black. The leader was flanked by the other two. One of the girls had bleached blond hair, the top of it tied back into braids with the rest hanging down past her shoulders. She, like the girl next to her, was dressed in a leather jacket and walked with pride. The other girl had dark hair similarly tied back with a few side braids, and she was a bit shorter.

The leader had a gait grander than the other two. Lexa wore knee-high boots and leather gloves. The top she wore was black and long-sleeved with a texture that looked like scales. Her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows and she had a black jean vest on with jagged bright and dark red marks on it. Her hair was tied back into a multitude of braids that mixed with loose hair in the back. All three were wearing loads of dark makeup around their eyes, but hers was the most prominent. They all got into line to order their drinks.

Clarke was back in her seat from the minute they had walked through that door. Her back was to them, but she still put a hand in front of her face to hide it from view, looking at Jasper and hissing, “Why is _she_ here?”

He shook his head and shrugged. “No idea. Chill out, they haven’t seen you. What’s she gonna do, bite your head off in the middle of the cafe?”

“You’re right,” Clarke leaned backwards against the back of the booth and crossed her arms in front of her chest, staring at Jasper and willing herself not to look over at Lexa and her gang. “I’m not going give her the satisfaction of seeing me leave right after she got here.”

“Clarke, that’s not what I was getting at,” Jasper squinted at her. “Look, Octavia’s there too.” He subtly motioned his head towards the dark-haired girl in the leather jacket. She was waiting in line with Lexa, looking at the menu on the wall. He didn't take her eyes off of her as he continued talking. “She’s hot, but I’m not making a deal out of this.”

The blonde shook her head. “It’s not the same.” She was about to go on, but Jasper cut her off.

“How’s it any different? She’s hot, you’re hot _for her_ \--”

“That’s enough, Jasper,” she glowered at him, almost standing up out of her seat. “Stop jumping to conclusions.”

“You’re the one jumping,” he pointed out in a matter-of-fact manner, raising his eyebrows at her tense figure and she sank back against the booth, shaking her head.

"You’re an idiot sometimes.”

“You sound like Monty.”

“What a blossoming friendship you two have, calling each other idiots and doing that weird self-high-five thing you do.”

Jasper mocked looking offended. “Hey, it’s not weird! It’s our handshake. Don’t dis the handshake.”

“Wouldn't it be more of one if you actually shook hands? Or at least high-fived _each other?”_

“Alright, fine. It’s a little weird,” the boy admitted, then he looked at Clarke suspiciously. “Stop changing the topic. You’re trying to shift the subject so we don't have to talk about Lexa.”

“Yeah, sue me,” Clarke sighed, putting her face in her hands and running them up through her long hair. "Alright, well,” she continued, “I’m leaving right now either way. You coming?” She glanced back at her friend with an expression that only meant one thing:  _drop it._

Jasper shrugged and grabbed his things, seeming to know that the conversation was over. He stood up just as Clarke did and they walked to the door. Once they were out, Clarke looked at the glass over her shoulder and swore that she saw a brown face with black-framed eyes look at her, but only for a moment.


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm fucked."

It was the next day and far too early in the morning for anything, especially not a calculus test. Clarke ran a hand through her blond hair, sighing loudly. There were a good few minutes before the bell rang and people were still filing into the classroom. The teacher was nowhere in sight, but her coffee mug was on her desk and the Promethean board was on with a photocopy of the homework displayed on it. Clarke studied the problems involving limits and continuities written out, but her mind was drawing a blank.

"Am I imagining something, or is Clarke Griffin not ready for a math exam?" Raven said from the desk next to her. Her brown hair was neatly tied back in a ponytail as usual and she looked awake, unlike the rest of the class.

"Raven, be quiet for a minute," Clarke groaned and rubbed at her eyes. "I know; I usually am, but I spent all night doing the APUSH homework that I accidentally procrastinated on."

"Weren't you supposed to study for this test with Jasper yesterday?" Clarke turned to glance at Monty, who was in the desk in front of her, sitting in his chair sideways.

She shrugged, "Yeah, I guess, but we started talking and didn't actually get any work done."

Monty looked confused, raising an eyebrow and turning himself further towards her. "What can you even talk to Jasper about that doesn't involve drugs, science, or girls?"

"That's a little shallow, Monty," Raven said to him. Her eyes weren't focused on either of them and instead she was looking over her notes and Clarke felt the urge to do the same so that she wouldn't fail, but Monty kept talking.

The dark-haired boy snorted. "He's my best friend. I'm allowed to say things. Besides, you know it's basically true."

"Well, that's exactly what we talked about," Clarke told him, then kind of wished that she hadn't said anything. She didn't want more people knowing about the issue that she had with Lexa; Jasper was more than enough. He had already jumped to the absurd conclusion that she _liked_ this girl, which wouldn't have been such a problem to brush off if he hadn't known that she wasn't just into guys. She almost regretted telling him, or more like letting him figure it out from the hints she dropped. 

"Hey, Clarke, you with us?" Monty was waving a hand in front of her face and she nodded, snapping back to reality. "You mean to tell me that you guys chatted about narcotics and/or boobs?"

She felt the urge to chuckle at the thought of that, but then shook her head. "Never mind, it was nothing. We just got carried away and were interrupted is all."

"Interrupted...? Now you're making it sound like--"

"Gross, no!" she slapped Monty's upper arm before he could finish and his grin got wider until he was laughing really hard. "We were in that coffee shop near my house. Besides, he's just a friend and you know that."

"Who is?" All three of them looked up to see Jasper standing next to Monty with an eyebrow cocked. He set his bag down next to the seat in front of Raven and sat down, facing Clarke and Monty. "What's with him?" he pointed to his best friend, who was still trying to calm down.

Monty got a hold of himself, still gasping as he answered, "Clarke was just telling us about how you guys tried to study, but got 'interrupted.'" Monty emphasized the last word with air quotes, having finally calmed down enough to talk properly.

Jasper nodded, seemingly still confused as to what was so funny about it. "Right, yeah. Strangely enough, studying didn't even get brought up because Clarke got obsessed with that punk chick Lexa and we ended up spending our time talking about her until she showed up and we left. What's the deal?"

"Jasper."

"What?" he looked at Clarke to see her glaring at him.

"Shut up about that," she told him sternly.

He threw his arms up into the air, but kept his voice low as he spoke, "What's the big deal? Your lady-crush is becoming even more obvious than it was before and they're bound to know about it anyway." He gestured towards Monty and Raven, only to put his hand down when he was met with confused glances. "Oh come on," he insisted. "She's more obvious than _I_ am!"

"What, like with _Octavia?"_ Monty asked, clearly stumped and throwing something out for the sake of continuing the conversation.

Before any of them had a chance to respond, the bell sounded and the teacher announced the beginning of class, having appeared next to the board. The topic of Lexa was dropped as suddenly as it had been picked up and Clarke wished that it was tangible so that she could kick it far away from her. She felt angry at Jasper for saying anything, maybe a little betrayed even, but she hoped that the others hadn't understood. Neither of them had seemed to believe him anyway.

\---

"How well do you think you did on it?" Raven asked her as they walked out of the room, in step with the two boys as well. Monty and Jasper had as well as aced it and they were both confident in that, but Clarke shrugged.

"Probably poorly," she confessed and felt a little guilty about it but she tried to shake it off. 

"I'm sure you did fine," Jasper piped up but Clarke didn't answer him.

She walked on instead and soon the four parted ways with few goodbyes and she headed off down the hall to her next class. She felt a hand on her shoulder and whirled around to see Jasper standing behind her, apparently not having left to go with Monty to their AP chemistry class. 

"I'm sorry," he started but the blond girl held up a hand to cut him off.

"It's fine," she said. "Leave it."

Jasper frowned but stood his ground, not budging to leave. He was nervously bouncing on the balls of his feet and rocking back and forth slightly. "Really. That was reckless and stupid, and I'm reckless and stupid, and possibly a little high right now. No one takes me seriously anyway, so I doubt they'll believe that."

"Thanks, Jasper," Clarke said, and she hoped that it sounded genuine. "But honestly, when I tell you to keep quiet about something, it means you don't say anything."

"Right. Noted. Sorry." He looked down at the ground for a moment, before looking back up at Clarke, "I just didn't think it'd be a big deal and all, but you can trust me to not say anything if it bothers you." He gave her a small smile and she felt the need to return it, nodding in understanding.

After a moment of silence between them, she squinted at him, "Wait, how are you even high right now? Did you take the test while on it?"

The brunet shook his head. "Remember when I went to the bathroom after I finished?"

"Oh." Clarke sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Don't make anything explode in the chem lab,  _please."_

"No promises." With that, Jasper turned on his heel and left, and Clarke was glad that he seemed a little happier, with the bounce in his step prominent. Given, he wasn't sober, but she didn't like to disappoint her friends, even if they did something wrong in the first place. The truth was, she was making a bigger deal out of it than she should have; it didn't matter what Jasper thought nor said, even if he was wrong. Clarke knew she shouldn't let it bother her, but the notion still buzzed in her mind like an annoying fly that she couldn't swat away.

"You forgave him very easily."

For the second time in a matter of minutes, Clarke spun around, having her thoughts interrupted by a feminine voice, one she didn't really recognize. When she saw who had been standing behind her, she froze. Dark hair pulled back into layered braids, gray eyes masked with black and red eyeshadow, dark clothes with bright red and gold accents here and there-- the girl was just a bit taller than Clarke and had a small smile playing on her painted lips. Her posture was skewed and she had a hand on one hip, leaning to the side a little.

Clarke opened her mouth but no words came out, then finally she composed herself enough to furrow her eyebrows and speak with a slightly accusatory tone, "What're you doing, Lexa?"

"Your junkie friend piss you off?" she asked, but didn't await an answer before continuing, "He kept shooting me strange looks in the study group before school and mistakenly thought that I didn't notice."

The blonde frowned and said, "I don't see where you're going with that." She tried to sound confident, but her tone was short of flat. She tried not to be intimidated by the other girl, but Lexa had an air of superiority and leadership around her, and she knew it. 

"Had a fun talk in the cafe yesterday, I presume?" Lexa said, ignoring her answer, and Clarke's face fell. There was no way that she had heard their conversation about her, but maybe Clarke's tense body language had given it away from the moment that Lexa and her gang had stepped inside of the shop. 

"I guess?" Clarke countered, her tone unsure, but she tried to keep her steady demeanor. 

The punk brunette nodded but didn't seem to buy anything that Clarke said. Then, out of nowhere, came the phrase: "You're quite weak for a natural leader, Clarke."

Clarke was stumped. What the hell was that supposed to mean? She frowned and spat out the only retort she could think of, "You're quite cold for the amount of warm colors you wear."

It wasn't a very good comeback, but Lexa looked at least a little bit shocked for a moment, before a smile graced her features again. "I only hope it complements your fiery personality," she said and then she moved past Clarke and walked off with a regal stride. The blond girl stood motionless, for a good few seconds, trying to figure out the meaning of what Lexa had said. 


	3. Chapter 3

"What the  _hell_ is that supposed to mean? 'I only hope it complements your fiery personality,'" Clarke voiced her agitation. Lexa's words had burned a hole through her, one that she was desperately trying to close by figuring out their meaning. That girl was an enigma. "And she called me weak for a leader; does that make any sense at all?"

"Again, I don't mean to be pulling your chain, but you are  _obsessed_ with that chick," Jasper sighed, putting his face in his hands and letting out a deep breath. He seemed to have gotten over his high and was now exasperated and leaning too far against the back of his chair, confident that any work that he could get done during the free period would in fact stay incomplete. "Maybe she has you confused with someone else. Did she call you 'Clarke' at all, ever? And where did you even get the idea that she hates you in the first place? You never told me." He seemed to mumble something at the end of that, and it sounded suspiciously like "not that you should."

The plethora of questions that her friend shot at her left the blond girl overwhelmed. She didn't know the answers to all of them, either, but elected to ignore the last part of what Jasper had said. And the first part. "I don't know," she said. "I don't think she's the type to mistake a person for someone else and act like she wants them dead."

"But did she actually call you by your name?" Jasper said, sitting up a little straighter and placing his arms out in front of himself, stretching. 

Clarke looked at him for a moment with her lips in a thin line, before breaking them with a simple interjection: "No." The brunet next to her nodded like he had known he was right the whole time and just wanted to hear her admit it. She was sure that that was in fact the case. However, he didn't look smug or egotistical, just knowing.

Jasper shifted in his seat yet again, having been unable to remain in the same position for more than a few minutes since the period had started. He turned to face Clarke by sitting sideways in his chair with one elbow on the desk and the other on the back of the chair. He was gently drumming his fingers on the surface of the desk to some internal rhythm. "Why do you think she hates you in the first place? Where'd you get that idea? I mean, besides the obvious 'hating everyone' thing. You never said exactly  _why."_

She hated admitting to the fact that he had another good point, but she hated not knowing how to answer even more. Maybe it was just Lexa's heavily lined eyes, the ones that screamed with coldness any time she looked at Clarke with that neutral expression. Maybe it was her posture and that presence of high status and superiority, like she owned the world. She had never actually said anything to Clarke before that day, nothing meaningful at least, but Clarke still felt that inkling of hatred that Lexa seemed to shoot at her. Maybe she was in fact imagining it.

"Maybe you're deluding yourself into thinking she has a thing against you because you can't stand people disliking you," Jasper mirrored her thoughts verbally after she didn't respond, and for a moment, he sounded almost wise. 

"That's not true," Clarke said as a storm passed over her features and then returned and settled over them in the form of a frown. 

"Well," Jasper said, clearly out of thoughts on the topic and wanting it resolved, "my other idea is that you have a crush on her and are thinking you have no chance because she's too unapproachable, but you've turned that one down so it doesn't seem worth it."

The blonde paused, not liking either idea very much, before she finally made up her mind and spoke. "I mean, what was the deal today, then? You don't just walk up to a random person you barely know and say something shady and weird like that, do you?"

"I mean, I'm probably not the best person to ask about that..."

"But you flirt," Clarke interrupted. "You flirt with everyone you meet who you deem hot." Jasper just shrugged and made an long "eh" sound, but Clarke continued over him. "And a lot of the time you do it in a really terrible and unattractive way." The boy made another half-assed protest in the form of a dejected huff. "I don't think she was flirting; it was too... cold. Insulting, even. Baffling."

Jasper nodded lazily. "Yeah, I get it. Weirdo punk princess from another planet gets you all hot and bothered with her harsh and mysterious demeanor. What else is new?"

Clarke glared at the brunet boy and he looked at least a little sorry, but mostly tired. "Anything up with you, then?" she asked, switching gears, and he shrugged in response. 

"I think I'm crashing and I don't know why and I'm also out of herb because Monty couldn't get any more from his parents without them realizing something was up. We almost got caught last time."

She snorted at that, shaking her head. "Why am I friends with you junkies?"

"Because I'm sweet and charming and attractive."

Clarke shook her head again, playing along with Jasper's amused grin. "I don't think that's it."

"Because I listen to your lesbian fantasies and help you not fail your classes?" he tried again and Clarke didn't know if she wanted to laugh or glare at him. She decided to keep going along with it.

"Only because you find that hot or something. Gross."

"I... really can't deny that," Jasper confirmed.

"Gross."

He only shrugged and propped one foot up on his knee. "You like what you like, right?"

"That's like me saying that I think you and Monty have a thing going on because I'd get off on it if you did."

Jasper spluttered and Clarke smiled smugly at his reaction. "First of all,  _no,"_ he said, holding up a finger to stop her, and that phrase was followed by incoherent strings of _"gross," "why,"_ and _"stop."_ Clarke cut him off, though, before he could say anything else.

"Fine. You and Bellamy, then. Since Lexa and I are also not very friendly with each other; it's only fair."

The brunet boy only stared at her intensely, looking incredibly uncomfortable, before he finally said, "I'd prefer not to touch Octavia Blake's brother with a ten-foot pole, and hugging him that one time doesn't coun--"

"Which is exactly my point, Jasper. It's an accurate comparison. I'd actually say that you two are friendlier with each other than I am with Lexa, so maybe Murphy might be a better example."

Jasper groaned, rubbing his temples with his fingers and closing his eyes. "I really don't need all of these mental images, Clarke. Thank you, because now I have to wash my brain out with bleach to forget about this conversation. Or get really high, and I mean _really high,_ but that's not an option at the moment. Ugh. You're horrible. Why are we friends."

"Because you listen to my  _bisexual_ fantasies and I make sure you actually do the work for your classes?"

"Fair enough," he said, but the look on his face told her that he was dissatisfied with the conversation and his tone upheld that notion. Then, his expression turned into a small smile, and he said, "So you do admit that you fantasize about Lexa."

Clarke stared at him, and she couldn't deny it-- not that it wasn't untrue, but she did say it, like that, precisely. She didn't fantasize about Lexa, at least she was pretty sure that she didn't, and that sense of subordination that she felt around her and no one else was due to the girl's skill of intimidation, and the butterflies fluttering against the walls of her stomach were just there because she didn't know how to deal with feeling like that--

"Well?" Jasper chased her thoughts away with his suddenly very annoying voice. 

"Maybe you're right," Clarke sighed. Her friend looked surprised at the confession, but she ignored him. "Maybe I do kind of like her and am trying not to think about it, I don't know."

"Hah, finally," Jasper snorted. "Took you long enough to admit that."

Clarke pushed his shoulder with her hand in a fist, but there was no real blow to it, and she felt the urge to laugh.

 


End file.
